China and Japan must learn the right lessons from history
Lanxin Xiang says while the allusion to 1914 maybe more relevant to Sino-Japanese ties today that many think, the more valuable historical lesson is that skilful diplomacy remains the wisest option
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's sensational statement at Davos claiming that the current relationship between Japan and China was akin to Anglo-German alienation in 1914, on the eve of the first world war, provoked an angry response from China. Foreign Minister Wang Yi said such a statement was "incomprehensible" and a "confusion of time and space".
But the Chinese are mistaken. Abe has a clear message in his claim. The idea comes from a long-standing US theme, the "China threat", promoted by the neoconservatives in the George W. Bush administration through the analogy of China being pre-1914 Imperial Germany.
The purpose of the analogy is to gain the moral high ground, since it brings to mind a democratic England fighting an authoritarian Germany. The logic is that a rapidly rising authoritarian regime will inevitably challenge liberal democracy through military conquest and territorial expansion. There is little doubt Abe is telling the world that China is a major threat to world peace and order.
But how effective is such a rhetorical offensive? Not very. Abe is not entirely wrong to use this analogy to describe the current state of Sino-Japanese relations, but it's unclear which side - China or Japan - most resembles Imperial Germany.
First, it is not clear that China is viewed by the world as today's German empire. By contrast, Japanese leaders' intention to revise modern Japanese history has triggered alarm bells. On top of this, there is the possibility that, for the first time after the second world war, the country will be re-militarised.
After all, the Meiji Restoration was modelled on Imperial Germany's rise in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
